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Published in: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 11/2022

Open Access 20-05-2022 | Artificial Intelligence | Original Article

Artificial intelligence-based PET denoising could allow a two-fold reduction in [18F]FDG PET acquisition time in digital PET/CT

Authors: Kathleen Weyts, Charline Lasnon, Renaud Ciappuccini, Justine Lequesne, Aurélien Corroyer-Dulmont, Elske Quak, Bénédicte Clarisse, Laurent Roussel, Stéphane Bardet, Cyril Jaudet

Published in: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | Issue 11/2022

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Abstract

Purpose

We investigated whether artificial intelligence (AI)-based denoising halves PET acquisition time in digital PET/CT.

Methods

One hundred ninety-five patients referred for [18F]FDG PET/CT were prospectively included. Body PET acquisitions were performed in list mode. Original “PET90” (90 s/bed position) was compared to reconstructed ½-duration PET (45 s/bed position) with and without AI-denoising, “PET45AI and PET45”. Denoising was performed by SubtlePET™ using deep convolutional neural networks. Visual global image quality (IQ) 3-point scores and lesion detectability were evaluated. Lesion maximal and peak standardized uptake values using lean body mass (SULmax and SULpeak), metabolic volumes (MV), and liver SULmean were measured, including both standard and EARL1 (European Association of Nuclear Medicine Research Ltd) compliant SUL. Lesion-to-liver SUL ratios (LLR) and liver coefficients of variation (CVliv) were calculated.

Results

PET45 showed mediocre IQ (scored poor in 8% and moderate in 68%) and lesion concordance rate with PET90 (88.7%). In PET45AI, IQ scores were similar to PET90 (P = 0.80), good in 92% and moderate in 8% for both. The lesion concordance rate between PET90 and PET45AI was 836/856 (97.7%), with 7 lesions (0.8%) only detected in PET90 and 13 (1.5%) exclusively in PET45AI. Lesion EARL1 SULpeak was not significantly different between both PET (P = 0.09). Lesion standard SULpeak, standard and EARL1 SULmax, LLR and CVliv were lower in PET45AI than in PET90 (P < 0.0001), while lesion MV and liver SULmean were higher (P < 0.0001). Good to excellent intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) between PET90 and PET45AI were observed for lesion SUL and MV (ICC ≥ 0.97) and for liver SULmean (ICC ≥ 0.87).

Conclusion

AI allows [18F]FDG PET duration in digital PET/CT to be halved, while restoring degraded ½-duration PET image quality. Future multicentric studies, including other PET radiopharmaceuticals, are warranted.
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Literature
21.
go back to reference Mehranian A, Wollenweber SD, Walker MD, Bradley KM, Fielding PA, Su K-H, et al. Image enhancement of whole-body oncology [18F]-FDG PET scans using deep neural networks to reduce noise. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Springer; 2021;1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-021-05478-x Mehranian A, Wollenweber SD, Walker MD, Bradley KM, Fielding PA, Su K-H, et al. Image enhancement of whole-body oncology [18F]-FDG PET scans using deep neural networks to reduce noise. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Springer; 2021;1–11. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1007/​s00259-021-05478-x
36.
Metadata
Title
Artificial intelligence-based PET denoising could allow a two-fold reduction in [18F]FDG PET acquisition time in digital PET/CT
Authors
Kathleen Weyts
Charline Lasnon
Renaud Ciappuccini
Justine Lequesne
Aurélien Corroyer-Dulmont
Elske Quak
Bénédicte Clarisse
Laurent Roussel
Stéphane Bardet
Cyril Jaudet
Publication date
20-05-2022
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging / Issue 11/2022
Print ISSN: 1619-7070
Electronic ISSN: 1619-7089
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-022-05800-1

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